"Disappointed" Al-Attiyah promises to bounce back

16 May 2017

Qatar's Nasser al-Attiyah attends the men's skeet final event during the Baku 2017.

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Olympic bronze medallist and two-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah promised "to come back stronger" after the Qatari marksman failed to deliver at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku on Tuesday.

With just 112 points in five rounds, Al-Attiyah finished 11th in the qualifications, three points away from a place in the final of the men's skeet event."I shot very badly", he told AFP-Services. "But I wasn't that far from the final. I'm disappointed, of course. But I also hadn't been shooting for a while so it's not that bad of a result, all things considered. I hope to come back stronger next time."

The skeet final in Azerbaijan was dominated by veteran Saied Almutairi, 48, a four-time Olympian from Saudi Arabia.

Considered one of the best marksman in Asia, where he won three continental championships (2001, 2002 and 2006), 46-year old Al-Attiyah also has an impressive CV when it comes to autombile racing as he won the demanding Dakar Rally twice in 2011 and 2015 as well as many other races in the PWRC, WRC-2, MERC and CCRWC championships.

"I arrived just one day before the Baku event and I hadn't practised in a while. I lost the feeling", he admitted.

"Shooting is not easy and you need to be able to focus on this. I've been doing a lot of rally lately: two weeks ago, I was still sitting at the wheel", Al-Attiyah added.

This result is not all bad, he admitted, as it would help him "prepare for the World Championships in Moscow in September".